Tale Of Two Worlds
by Writen
Summary: Earth? Remnant? No longer separate entities. The world would be changed forever as these two civilizations were unwillingly forced to combine into one. But now the questions were raised. Who was responsible for this event? How? Why? But for some, another question needed an answer. How far would you go to unite two worlds?
1. The Combine and First Impressions

**Tale Of Two Worlds**

 **Written By: Writen**

 **Beta Read By: Trusty McGoodGuy**

 **Prologue: The Combine**

* * *

When it first happened, there was no warning. No flash of light, no sirens, no alarms to warn either world that they would soon merge with the other.

Two worlds that were never meant to intertwine, and yet until they both became one, neither knew the other existed.

No one knows quite how it happened. An advanced scientific experiment gone horrendously wrong? An item of one world's found in the other? Perhaps, even divine intervention? But when you squeeze eleven billion people onto a single planet, trivial facts such as what caused it or who caused it weren't the first things people wanted to know.

When the governments of all had figured out that colossal new continents filled with life and society had magically appeared mere miles from their own, both sides were in a flurry of different feelings at the revelation.

Some were confused. Why? They thought. Why had such lands appeared at their doorsteps completely unannounced? However, these people soon became worried with more present, urgent questions, and nary an answer in sight.

Others were excited at the event. Massive new landforms with whole societies that just appeared out of the blue? Perhaps they had answers to questions that Earth on its own could not solve. The promise of new information, new trade, and new resources fueled their hopefulness.

A large majority of people from all around were understandably spooked, however. Remnant's main problem was the Grimm, if these new lands turned out to be hostile, kingdom after kingdom would be overwhelmed. On Earth, world leaders all around groaned at the revelation. Earth was no stranger to human on human conflict. They already had their own hands full trying to deal with seven billion people. Four billion more would only bring more headaches.

Surprisingly, Vale was the first to take action. Many teams were scattered to the winds to explore these new lands. One of these teams being team STRQ. People weren't exactly sure what had happened that day. But everyone could agree on one thing. It would be known as

 **THE COMBINE**

 **END OF PROLOGUE**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: First Impressions**

* * *

"Wait, what?" Summer Rose questioned with cocked eyebrow.

A question that had been asked many times that day already.

"Just...ugh. Turn to the news channel, I'm sure they can explain it better than I." Raven exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air.

Swiftly, Taiyang and snatched the remote control lying haphazardly on the floor and plopped onto his assigned bed before turning the TV to the news.

 **KRRSSHHH**

"-Unlike anything we've seen before. The world's top geologists held an emergency meeting today, and none of them have a clue as to how these land masses have suddenly appeared. Meanwhile, the Atlesian military is fully mobilizing for a full scale attack while Mistr..." The reporter announced before being stopped mid-sentence by an informant talking into her earpiece.

They whispered to each other for a few moments.

"And you're sure?" The reported asked.

Another, shorter pause.

"Alright... This just in: A wide-scale biometric scan has confirmed that there is life on these new lands, and that there appears to be no Grimm, yes, you heard me correctly folks, no Grimm populating these new lands. More information as it comes in, this is Heather Cassio, reporting to you live from VOX news."

 **KRRSSHHH**

Taiyang quickly muted the TV after that revelation.

"Wh-what? How? Why?" Summer stammered, stumbling over her words.

"Well, the world's top geo-boys don't know. It's not like I know either. They said they had life there...maybe that means there's people, that means people who can help fight the Grimm and help our kingdoms if they're friendly." Taiyang chimed in, excitement building as the possibilities whirled around in his mind.

"Hmph. You might be able to be optimistic, Tai, but you forget that there might not be people there at all. Worse yet, there might be people there who would like nothing more than to overrun our kingdoms and annihilate our society." Pointed out Raven.

"Yeah, Raven's got a point. We should be ready to take action if worst comes to worst. I wonder what we'll find there?" Summer pondered while scratching her head.

Putting his hand behind his head and crossing his legs, Tai continued. "Well, I certainly hope there's friendly people there. Maybe they have some good scrumpy there." Tainyang quipped.

"Beer? But you're 19! You shouldn't be drinking!" Summer whined.

At that precise moment, the door to team STRQ's dorm flew open, revealing Qrow.

"Brother, where have you been? You disappeared after we had lunch and we haven't seen you since." Raven instinctively scolded.

The jet-haired huntsman said nothing, instead pulling out a tiny flask from behind his back and cocking a smug grin, shaking the container from side to side to reveal that he had decided to reward himself with a shot or two of a legally questionable beverage. This of course, gained a reaction from all three of his teammates.

"Oh no! Not you to!" Summer said, immensely concerned.

"Sigh, I should've known as much." Raven pouted, facepalming at the revelation.

"Hey uhhhh, where'd you get that, exactly?" Taiyang asked with a greedy spark in his eyes.

Suddenly, the tone of the school intercom being activated rang through team STRQ's dorm, as well as many others.

 _"All available students, report to the auditorium immediately. Come prepared with full combat gear and weaponry. This is not a drill. Repeat, this is not a drill."_ The intercom commanded before it shut off, leaving the dorm in silence for a moment.

"What do you suppose that was about?" Qrow wondered, completely oblivious to what the news had reported just minutes earlier.

At this, the rest of his team simply facepalmed.

Soon afterwards, the team packed their necessary belongings and made their way to the auditorium, where they found a massive conglomerate of every student available gathered in one place, all of them elite warriors trained in the deadly art of Grimm slaying.

On the stage was the headmaster, Ozpin himself, with one of his most trusted guards who had recently just graduated, Glynda Goodwitch, standing beside him.

"Students, I find it likely that many of you have already been informed of the calamity that has found its way just off of our coasts. Make no mistake about the scale of this situation, this is a worldwide event, and when all is said and done, this will certainly go down in the history books as perhaps one the largest world changing events in the last thousand years." Ozpin announced.

Most of the students had already been informed of what had transpired a mere half-hour ago, but to those who didn't know, they shared a worried glance with one another.

"But for now, it is our mission, as huntsman to investigate these lands, and to make sure these won't be of any harm to Vale, or any other kingdom. Which is why I'm activating all bullhead crews as of this moments for a full scale mobilization. You are humanity's shield against whatever threat these lands may hold. Good luck." Ozpin concluded, strolling off the stage and back into his office.

With this, Glynda took the stage. "We're sending in two teams per area with one bullhead per team. Check your scrolls to find out which bullhead you will be assigned to and proceed there immediately. For every two teams there will be one fully trained huntsmen. Aircraft will scramble in 15 minutes so I would advise that you'd hurry. Get going." Glynda informed.

Team after team checked scroll after scroll to find their designated transport before hurrying off in search of their assigned transport vessel. A motion that Summer quickly followed. Flipping out her scroll and splitting it open, she tapped on the app labeled "School Assignments."

With the rest of her team looking over her shoulder, she made her way through the virtual menu until she came across a tab tagged "Assigned Bullhead." Tapping on it once more, she found the instructions she was looking for.

Just before team STRQ went for their assigned aircraft, they were stopped by timid voice. "Uhhh hey guys?"

Turning around, Taiyang noticed the leader of a fellow team, as well as the rest of his team. Team Sequoia or something, Taiyang couldn't remember. "Hey man, whats up?" He asked.

"We left in such a hurry that no one on our team brought their scrolls. Could you point us to our bullhead?" He asked

"Yup!" Summer responded, popping the P. Flipping out her scroll, she gave it to team. Team SQUA's leader quickly found what he looking for.

"Got it! Thanks guys." He said, handing over the scroll back to Summer.

"Well would you look at that? We're both heading to the same landing zone." Qrow remarked.

"Welp, come on guys. We got the biggest adventure in ten centuries waiting for us!" Summer announced, hopping off to the designated coordinates with her comrades at her side.

"That's called a mille... eh whatever." Qrow said before running after the rest of his team.

Swiftly, the team of four made their way through the bustling hangar. Huntsmen and student alike hopped into the cabins of scattered aircraft. Pilots who had been scrambled for the mission, some of them looking as if they were only half-prepared.

Engine after engine powered up with the sound of fire-dust being chewed up and spat out as propellant. With aircraft already lining up to make their way out of the massive hangar, Summer decided that they needed to make a beeline for their bullhead, and quickly.

"Let's go, guys!" She shouted to her compatriots before rushing at full speed towards her team's assigned bullhead. Within seconds, team STRQ had converged on the twin-engined transport. Summer leaned into the cockpit to command the pilot to lift-off.

Only to find that the pilot's seat was empty.

"Uhhh... Guys?" She said worriedly, knowing full-well that no pilot meant no mission.

"What?" Taiyang questioned.

"There's no pilot here." She answered bleakly.

"That would probably be my fault!" A gray-haired man chimed in whilst running towards the bullhead. He had a mountain cap and aviators, but other than that, not much about him screamed "pilot."

Raven was the first to notice this. All Beacon pilots had a symbol on the shoulder whatever uniform they were wearing at the time, this pilot however, did not. Immediately, her suspicion rose.

"Sorry y'all, I just got here two hours ago. Get in, I'm flying y'all to them new lands."

"Who are you?" Raven asked. "You're not a Beacon staff pilot, of that I am certain." Raven confirmed.

"I ain't a full-timing Beacon pilot, but since you guys ran out of them, they rented people like me to fly you from point A to point B." The pilot explained.

"Rental pilots? I thought Beacon was rich." Qrow mentioned.

"They are, but I'll tell you one thing; full scale mobilizations sure as hell ain't cheap. Now hop on, we got places to be." He said before climbing into the pilots seat and firing up the bullhead engines.

As the pilot began methodically flipping away at switches scattered across the cockpit, team STRQ took their seats in the cabin and strapped in, unsure of what to expect from these new lands.

Like a traffic jam, bullhead after bullhead slowly wheeled their way out the hangar and taxied onto the tarmac one by one before taking off.

"Welp, here goes nothing. You guys ready to make history?" The pilot asked, preparing to launch.

* * *

 **Two Hours Later, RAF Airbase Lindershein**

* * *

"Wait, what?" Cronyn questioned with a cocked eyebrow.

"I know! Crazy, right? No one has a clue how it happened. High command's in a huge tizzy about it. Must be a bloody nightmare for the logistics officers right about now." Rorsche answered, just as shocked as his wingman.

As the two kept strolling towards the general direction of the base's mess hall, they briefly took a moment to think about the consequences of what this could mean. Neither pilots had ever actually gone to war, besides the advanced training exercises. Whole new lands could mean whole new countries, and where there's new countries, war.

"Nine outta ten odds that no matter what happens today, it's gonna go down in history. Lord, media's gonna be covering this for a month." Rorsche remarked.

Cronyn glanced in the direction of his Eurofighter Typhoon, a generation four fighter armed with missiles and cannon, capable of flying twice the speed of sound. "You think we're gonna be the first line of defense?" Said Cronyn.

"God, I hope not. I've had enough ATE for one day. I just want nothing more than to hit the mess for lunch and then debrief. Higher ups can deal with this bloody mess for all I care." Rorsche whined.

A short pause in the conversation followed.

"...It would make sense, though. We're one of the closest airbases to this new land. I don't have proof, but rumor says that NATO's already got spy planes over the north coast right now." Rorsche gossiped.

"No shit? Well then, 'spose we'll kick back in the mess until they get us on sitting call." Cronyn yawned.

Just then, an electric voice came on through the airbase loudspeaker system.

 _"All attack pilots report to your aircraft at once. This is not a drill. All attacks pilots report to your aircraft for sitting call immediately."_ The voice said briefly as some feedback and the click of the system's deactivation was heard.

"You were saying?" Rorsche smart-mouthed.

"Bloody Murphy's law..." Cronyn retorted before the pair of pilots dashed as fast as they could across the bright green grass field standing between them and their gen four fighter jets.

The two of them arrived and quickly donned their flight helmets dangling off the side of the fuselage near the canopy. They climbed the extendable ladder, strapped in, lit the engines, and waited for orders.

And soon, orders came.

Through the radios mounted on the inside of their flight helmets, Cronyn, Rorsche, and the other attack pilots of Royal Air Force Base Lindershein were greeted by their commander's voice.

"Alright lads, the verdict is that High Brass has determined that we'll by flying air patrol over the North Atlantic until we can find out whether these new lands are friend, foe, or uninhabited. I know most of you weren't prepared for this. I wasn't either in all honesty, but we still have a job to do. Each fighter will fly in a standard finger four and patrol your assigned sectors. Info for assigned sectors will follow once you're airborne. You lads already know the rules for a meet n' greet with bogey's. Move out."

Slowly, the Eurofighters, and Tornadoes taxied out on to the runway. Cronyn and Rorsche coincidentally being the first two.

"So... you ready to make history?" Cronyn inquired to Rorsche as he powered up his jet's twin turbofans.

* * *

 **One Hour Later, 3000 meters above the North Atlantic**

* * *

A finger four of British jets screamed across the Atlantic at 1100 miles per hour. Two Eurofighter Typhoons accompanied by two Panavia Tornadoes. The formation would circle back to their own airspace whenever they got too far, maintaining a strict aerial perimeter. Together, they soared over the enormous ocean on the prowl for any unidentified aircraft while flying at breakneck speeds.

And two unidentified aircraft is exactly what they found.

"RADAR contact, two bogeys. They uh- they're emitting a radio signal." Rorcshe announced passively.

"Any signs of weaponry?" Cronyn asked.

"Not that I can see. They're twelve miles out, bearing 025, at 450 miles per hour. 11 o'clock, low." Rorsche relayed as he calculated and pinpointed the bogey's exact location.

"Understood. Typhoon One to Tornadoes; fall back to a trail position, one mile. If the situation goes bollocks and both Typhoons are neutralized, fire at will. Typhoon Two, stay behind Bogey wingman, I'll be on Bogey lead. Check?" Cronyn planned, wanting to gain a postive ID on the unknown's. He checked to see that everyone in the formation had understood his orders.

"Typhoon Two, check last." Rorsche replied.

"Tornado One, check last."

"Tornado Two, check last."

"Move in."

Meanwhile, all was quiet on the two bullheads. Both teams' STRQ and SQUA were mentally preparing themselves for hostilities what might lay on the land, that they didn't realize these new lands could have airborne capabilities. No even thought that four fighter jets were stalking the unsuspecting huntsmen transports from above.

Not until they revealed themselves, anyways.

 **VVVWWWWWOOOOOOOSSHHHHH**

The crack of the British fighter jets' flying just over the sound barrier announced their arrival as they flew directly over both Valean aircraft. For a moment, no one on board the bullheads was certain as to what happened.

"Was that another bullhead?" Taiyang asked out loud.

Suddenly, the warning of a small siren in the cockpit alerted everyone

 **BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP**

The high-pitched alarm rang out, similar to that of an alarm clock, with a flashing red light pulsating just above the pilot's instrument panel accompanying the alarm.

"I think I've seen enough action movies to know that beeping in a plane is never a good sign." Taiyang commented.

"Umm, hmmm...Well, I got good news and I got bad news." The pilot reported.

"The good news is that it isn't Grimm. The bad news is that four jets passed over us, and I don't think they're another team's because three of them have missile lock."

Suddenly, the radio on team STRQ's bullhead crackled to life.

 _"Attention unidentified aircraft, you are intruding in restricted British airspace. Identify yourself immediately. If you attempt to attack, you will be shot down and detained."_

Without hesitation, Summer picked up the transmitter. Clutching the microphone in her hands, she pressed down on the talk button. "Hey wait! We'll do whatever you tell us, just don't shoot!" She replied in a near-panicked voice.

Summer knew that the lives of herself and nine other people rested on whether or not they complied with the directions of these people, since neither bullhead carried anti-air capabilities. Fighting Grimm was one thing, surviving in rough seas for who knows how long with no food or water was another.

 _"Understood, unknown aircraft. We're sending in an air wing to escort you out."_

"Thanks. Hey, who are you guys anyways?" Summer asked out of sheer curiosity.

"Summer, what the hell do you think you're doing? They could shoot us down any second, and you want to know who they are?" Raven seethed.

"Well, I...uh-"

Before Summer could give a full reply, the British pilot responded.

 _"This is the 479_ _th_ _air wing of the Royal Air Force. Identify yourself."_

"Uh...This is team STRQ and team SQUA of Beacon Academy. We were sent here to investigate these lands, but um...I guess you guys got here before us." Summer replied.

 _"Understood Beacon lead. Please fly back to your point of origin."_ The pilot commanded before cutting out his transmission.

Quickly following the given orders, and not wishing to incur the wrath of this "Royal Air Force", both bullheads turned around and egressed for Beacon Academy.

"Well that wasn't tense at all. What do you suppose we do now?" Qrow asked.

"We report to Ozpin and tell him what happened, I guess." Summer answered.

"And after that?" Raven questioned.

"…..I don't know." Summer said in a concerned tone.

"So what do you suppose he was talking about? Royal Air Force? British airspace? Who are these guys?" Tai wondered.

"Well...I think we'll find out soon enough." Summer replied, determination lining her voice.

 **Alright... Obviously this was somewhat inspired by Earth in Remnant and United States of Remnant. I wanted to do an Earth and Remnant story for a long time, and I finally decided to do it. I'm putting this chapter out there to see if anyone likes it, but if it's ignored, this is probably the only chapter I will make. I only made this story to see if anyone is still interested in the Earth and Remnant idea.**

 **As for everyone here following ASNL, don't worry, I'm still working on the generalized plan for that, and I'm making good progress on it.**

 **Anyways, hope you guys have a good one, and if people like this, I'll see you in the next chapter.**

 **Oh, and don't forget to review. Feedback is like gold to me.**


	2. Snow Ridden Superpowers

**Chapter 2: Snow-Ridden Superpowers**

 **Written By: Writen**

 **Beta Read By: Trusty McGoodGuy**

 **Disclaimer: Not everything will be completely accurate, as I am not an expert about EVERYTHING in both worlds.**

* * *

The conjoining of thousands of cultures into one planet was a slightly odd event to say the least. Many an interesting event took place around the new world in that first day following The Combine. The news reported that the Atlesian armed forces were gearing up for a full-scale invasion, and Atlas delivered, against the desperate pleas of the politicians and diplomats.

"If it's hostile, kill it." was the hundreds year old reasoning of the Atlesian commanders and generals.

They didn't realize however, that "it", was the full might of the Russian military.

But they would soon find out.

* * *

 **Six Hours Post-Combine, Northwestern Coast of Russia**

"All ships are in position, Admiral Ashe." His second in command reported.

Lead Admiral Ashe of the Atlesian Airfleet was an aging tactician in a line of military family members. Ashe was confident, but also perceptive. He knew when to press the attack or pull it back. He learned these lessons the hard way during the Menagerie campaign he had fought in a decade earlier.

"Excellent work, warrant officer. Have the Aeneid move up to a higher altitude in case we come across any stray Gri-" The aged and battle weary admiral ordered before he was interrupted.

Before the Admiral could finish his sentence however, the beeping of a radio receiving a frequency chimed in. Immediately, the communications officer posted there, a lieutenant, scrambled to pinpoint the frequency and hone in on it.

"…What the? Lieutenant, is that one of ours?" The Admiral inquired.

After a brief moment of the communications lieutenant checking all known Atlesian military frequencies connected to the CCT, he answered.

"No sir. It's an independent broadcast signal, and from what I can tell... its point of origin is directly from the new lands." The comm officer reported with a look of concern adorning his face.

A moment of silence swept over the crew on the bridge, giving the Admiral some time to decide what to do next.

"Sigh. Alright, put it through, let's see what they have to say and hope they don't end up opening fire on us."

Admiral Ashe walked over to the onboard comm station and grasped the microphone between his white gloved fingers, pinning his thumb on the send button.

"Unknown broadcast, this is Lead Admiral Ashe of the Atlesian Airfleet. Identify yourself."

After a brief pause, the signal returned, carrying with it the voice of a man who spoke a language vastly different from what the Atlesians knew throughout all of Remnant. His language sounded scrambled, like someone had grinded and then mismatched where the letters were supposed to go in a word.

 _"Unknown aircraft, you are intruding in Russian airspace. Either turn back or land and prepare to be boarded."_ The man commanded in a serious, yet somewhat jaded tone.

Having no clue as to what the person on the other end of the line had said, and somewhat unsure of what to do next, Ashe transmitted his last message, assuming that these people had not understood his last one.

"Unknown broadcast, I repeat, this is Lead Admiral Ashe of the Atlesian Airfleet. Identify yourself immediately."

Ashe knew well of the Atlesian saying. "If it's hostile, kill it.", but were these people really hostile? Jumping the gun could cost him airships, ammo, and supplies, and the lives of good soldiers. On the other hand, if these people were hostile, this pause would present the perfect opportunity to launch an assault on the immobile Airfleet.

Ashe gambled that if these people were hostile, they would have retaliated by now. He decided that perhaps the best way to win this fight, was to not fight at all. He clicked off the microphone and turned to Warrant Officer Gainsboro, his second-in-command.

"Gainsboro, prep a bullhead and one of our negotiators, as well as a full squadron of mosquito escort fighters in case this goes sour."

"Yes, Admiral!" Gainsboro saluted before hurrying off to fulfill his assigned task.

Ashe knew the mosquito squadron was more of a touch and go more than anything else. There was a good chance that the 4 lone fighters would be eaten alive in the middle of enemy territory if this went bad. Still, even though the best way to fight this battle was not to fight, that didn't mean that Ashe would let his guard down.

Then the ageing Admiral realized something. The people on the other end of the line had not responded in a while. It had been a whole minute and a half since his last transmission, and since then, the airwaves had been dead silent.

"I don't like this. Lieutenant, if we're fired upon, be ready to give the signal for a tactical retreat."

"Aye, sir."

Clutching the microphone once more, the Admiral decided to check in with his "guests."

"Unknown broadcaster, please respond."

This time, a new voice answered, one accompanied by a language much more familiar to everyone aboard Ashe's flagship.

"This is Major Levnitsky of the Russian Federation Military, you are intruding in national airspace. Either turn back now, or land and prepare to be boarded. Do note that if you attempt to attack us, we will shoot you down." The Russian officer announced.

Ashe was hesitant at first. The information he had just received delivered both good and bad news. The good news being that these people were willing to talk before fighting. The bad news is that this confirmed the Admiral's suspicions of these "Russians" having anti-air capabilities.

Once more, the Ashe pressed down on the microphone button.

"This is Admiral Ashe. We have a negotiator's transport with fighter escort prepped and ready to go. Where to do you want us send it?" He questioned.

As soon as Ashe let go of the transmitter, his lieutenant shot him a confused glance.

"Why tell them that they have fighter escort, sir?" His communications officer wondered.

"Well, if I told them I was sending one plane, and five showed up, that'd be quite suspicious, wouldn't it?" Ashe reasoned.

"Aye, sir." The lieutenant agreed before returning to his duties.

"Send your negotiator to these coordinates as follows; 68.847108, 53.500671. My superiors are willing to meet with you there. Do not keep them waiting." Major Levnitsky advised before shutting off the transmission altogether. Steel handed the radio back to the comms lieutenant soon after.

Walking to the front of the bridge, Lead Admiral Ashe overlooked the coast of this "Russia" through wispy, cloud-ridden skies. He wondered many things as he gazed through the stainless glass separating the bridge from the thin, outside air.

What would the future hold for him, his crew, and his kingdom?

Who were these people, really?

What is the extent of Russia's might?

But one question nagged at his conscience above all others.

Had he made the right call?

Ashe hoped that he had.

* * *

 **At the same time, Coastal Missile Defense Battery 0014**

Vasiliy Moskvin was a simple man.

He was a normal soldier from a normal small town just outside of a normal Russian city. His normal parents encouraged him to join the armed forces so that he could have a stable, normal job.

But nothing about his current situation was normal at all.

Vasiliy was a radio officer stationed at a coastal defense battery on Russia's northwestern coast. It was a pretty boring job, considering the fact that no one was stupid enough to try to go head-on with the powerful red bear commonly referred to as Russia's military.

No-one except the blips that had popped up on his RADAR scope.

Vasiliy was informed that enemy fighters and transport aircraft would pop up as small pinpoints on the scope, no larger than the size of a water droplet. Except for the fact that this unknown aircraft looked less like a water droplet, and more like a mutated Dorito chip.

And there were 8 of them.

Which of course spooked the hell out of the young corporal at first, but then he realized that these massive aircraft had not yet opened fire on his position. Ever so cautiously he began broadcasting to the largest of the ships, but before he could issue an airspace warning, a message was sent to him.

 _"Unknown_ _ **KRSHH**_ _cast, this is Lead Admiral_ _ **KRSCHH**_ _of the_ _ **KRSHHH**_ _Airfleet. Identify yourself."_

Vasiliy instinctively knocked on the radio receiver. A lot of ancient tech from the cold war era had been stocked up in these defense batteries, but due to budget cuts, it took a while to get them replaced, which meant that stuff was malfunctioning all the time.

Vasiliy just wished it hadn't started malfunctioning the one time he actually had to do his job. He quickly sent out a return transmission, hoping that these people would be smart enough to bring a translator.

"Unknown aircraft, you are intruding in Russian airspace. Either turn back or land and prepare to be boarded." Vasiliy commanded in Russian.

The only response he got back sounded like the same thing he had gotten from them last time. ""Unknown broadcast, I repeat, this is Lead Admiral Ashe of the Atlesian Airfleet. Identify yourself immediately." Vasiliy realized that they wouldn't be able to understand him, so he turned to someone more experienced than him.

Immediately he switched his microphone to the internal base system, with an emergency direct line to the base commander.

"I hope this is important if you are using the emergency line, Vasiliy."

"It is, Major. I have spotted 8 unknown large aircraft that have traveled within range of our coasts, and the lead aircraft attempted to make contact with me while speaking English."

" _Ty che blaydj?_ Are they Americans?" Levnitsky cursed.

"I'm not sure, sir. My transceiver was malfunctioning, but they said they were part of an air fleet. I don't think they were American, sir." Vasiliy reported.

 _"Chert..._ I hoped that this would not happen so soon, but I think I know who these people are."

Vasiliy was curious. What did his commander mean when he said he knew who these people were? The young corporal didn't have time to wonder, however, as he could hear his commanding officer turn to his subordinates in his part of the defense station and relay commands.

"Boris, get me a direct line to Army Marshal Zhukov. Ivan, have all of our S-400's armed and ready to fire on my command in case they are hostile."

Both soldiers acknowledged their commanding officer before returning to their duties.

"Vasiliy, I'm heading to your radio station. You said these people spoke English, yes?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good."

Within just a few minutes, the Major had arrived at Vasiliy's radio station. The younger, less experienced soldier handed his CO the microphone after re-establishing a signal to the lead of these massive aircraft. No, aircraft wasn't the right word. Ships, was more like it, Vasiliy thought.

 _"This is Major Levnitsky of the Russian Federation Military, you are intruding in national airspace. Either turn back now, or land and prepare to be boarded. Do note that if you attempt to attack us, we will shoot you down."_ The Russian officer announced in perfect english.

Within just a few short moments, the commander of the massive flagship responded.

 _"This is Admiral Ashe. We have a negotiator's transport with fighter escort prepped and ready to go. Where to do you want us send it?"_ They asked. Vasiliy couldn't understand a word they were saying, but he knew that if they had been talking for this long, they must be trying to take the peaceful approach.

Just then, Boris, the other communications corporal in the base, chimed in to his commander. Through the same line that Vasiliy had used to talk to Levnitsky before.

"Major, Army Marshal Zhukov is on the line sir." He reported diligently.

Levnitsky quickly snagged the telephone on the end of the wall connecting him the Zhukov. The Army Marshal was an extremely busy man, especially today. Keeping him waiting was not a good idea lest you wished to be de-ranked.

"Army Marshall Zhukov, sir. I-" He began before being interrupted by the Marshal.

"Yes, sir...We encountered what we believe to be an airfleet from the new lands...Yes, they made contact with us and they wish to negotiate with us and want to send an ambassador to negotiate with us. He asks where to send it...Understood, sir. I will inform him right away."

Immediately, the major switched his attention back to the lead ship.

 _"Send your negotiator to these coordinates as follows;_ _68.847108, 53.500671. My superiors are willing to meet with you there. Do not keep them waiting."_ Major Levnitsky advised before shutting off the transmission altogether.

"What do you suppose we do now, sir?" Vasiliy questioned.

"Honestly? I don't know, and I don't care. Be ready in case they contact you again. I'm going go get some coffee and cigarettes. Damn news reporters and conspiracy theorists will never let go with this one." The Major remarked.

* * *

 **Here's chapter 2, you guys. I've been working on this thing nonstop for the last few days, so here it is. Not much to say other than the fact that I'm going to RTX this year. Yee yee. I'll be sure to bring back some merch and memories, and who knows, maybe you'll see a face reveal of me if I get my picture taken with some of the RT staff. After that I'll be gone for another week because of NYLT.**

 **Also that Aeneid ship may or may not have been an obscure reference to Resurgence by Kraven Ergeist. Shut up.**

 **Anyways, I'm really tired and I can't think of any more author's notes, so see y'all'st later.**

 **Oh, and feedback is much appreciated as usual. Thank you all.**


	3. C-Stoff, T-Stoff

**Chapter 3: C-Stoff, T-Stoff**

 **Beta Read By: Trusty McGoodGuy**

* * *

With the Red Bear and the White Knight having encountered each other in a less than stable than matter, negotiations were begun. Officially, the Atlesian airships had been sent over because they had detected activity in what was once their airspace.

Airspace that now _also_ belonged to the great red bear.

Since the two civilizations air spaces overlapped, it was a confusing eight hours to decide who had what and where it was. Where the soldier and rifle stopped, the diplomat and the politics started.

Politics, the bane of every soldier across any world. It was what dictated what a soldier was limited to and how he had to do it, which sometimes made it a lot easier for their enemies to exploit.

But right now, it was all that was keeping the two militaries from engaging in an all-out shooting war.

While the politicians talked it out among their fancy wooden board tables and glasses of water they never drank, the soldiers from both sides were on high alert. At first, they had been itching for a fight, ready to defend their respective homelands at a moment's notice.

But eight hours of waiting had begun to fatigue them all.

Finally, after a lengthy cessation between politicians and smooth-talkers, they came to terms. The airspace would be evenly divided between the two nations. Hostilities rose and fell quickly.

However, not all of the Nations and Kingdoms had the luxury of being separated by a massive ocean.

Australia? Menagerie? No longer just islands.

Where the Outback once rested, was now replaced with the faunus dominant nation.

Unlike the other kingdoms, however, Menagerie did not venture forth in curiosity to take on its new neighbors. Fearing the worst, Menagerie instead dug in fortifications across its territory and prepared for what they believed would be an all-out assault by the country encircling their borders.

Realizing the risk to themselves, the Australian military quickly mobilized its tank battalions and lend-lease air force to form a perimeter as a team of diplomats would be sent in. Whether or not they would succeed in their goals remained to be seen.

* * *

 **Austra-Menagerie Border, 12 hours Post-Combine**

* * *

Bumping along the uneven rock-filled wasteland of what used to be the Outback, a small convoy of two Australian G-Wagons and an M113 hauled a team of diplomats with a skeleton crew of soldiers to protect them. In all likelihood, if the new people wanted them dead, they would likely be so within just a few minutes.

The negotiators were fine with that, of course. They had been told the risks of the job when they first signed up, but they paid it no mind. A good negotiator wouldn't have to worry about any of that.

"Alright, Mr. Soren. This is what's going to happen."

The aged desk-jockey was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts as the Australian captain briefed him and the rest of the convoy on what the next thirty minutes of his life would look like, and how would shape the future of his home country forever.

"We're going to drive straight towards the frontline of what appears to be a very prepared defense force. We don't know where they came from, all we know is that they are well-armed, likely well trained, and have animal features."

"What do you mean by 'Animal features'?" Soren asked.

The Captain tried to figure out how to explain to his assigned VIP what he meant without sounding like a complete lunatic. Opening his mouth and raising his index finger, he gave up halfway through. Instead, he just sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he explained.

"Look, I know I sound like a nut when I say this, but I mean that they have these weird body parts all around them like some animal would have. Snake skin, dog tails, cat ears..."

A young corporal in the rear car snorted over the comm-line. "Pffft, Animals features? What are they? The 8th furry battalion?"

This, of course, earned him guffaws and chuckles from the rest of soldiers aboard the G-wagons.

"I'm sorry Jo-annis. If you'd like to say that to their faces and maybe start world war three in the process, be my guest." The captain quickly retorted, quickly shutting up everyone on the comms.

"As I was saying, spy satellites couldn't get much info in the 12 hour time window we got, so we're mostly gonna go in blind and pray that they're not stupid enough to shoot at a team of diplomats." The captain briefed further.

"And if they do?" Another soldier in the cabin asked worriedly.

"I think we all know what happens then. Let's just hope Mr. Soren is as good as they say." The captain replied.

The other soldier widened his eyes and exhaled, as he looked impassively out the window and into the desert. "Bloody..." The soldier didn't even bother to finish the rest of his sentence.

Suddenly, the brake lights on the G-wagon in front of Soren's lit up, and the convoy slowly lurched to a halt. Swiftly, each trooper hopped out of their vehicles and formed a defensive perimeter as they had learned in basic training.

"Alright, everybody. Now since we're technically in their territory, all we have to do now is wait for them to arrive so we can discuss terms." Mr. Soren reminded.

And arrive they did.

In the distance, George Soren saw the speckled dots of three aircraft flying at low altitude directly towards to convoy from the west. They flew very quickly, kicking up dust and sand in their wake.

As they got closer, their engines tilted backward, slowing them to a near standstill within just a few seconds. As the Australian troopers cautiously readied their weapons, the advanced aircraft landed in a triangle around the parked convoy, opening their side doors simultaneously to show their own team of diplomats.

The first thing they noticed about each other was the difference in race. The Australians noted the fact that these people were only faunas, or "animal people" as they had simply called them. At the same time, the faunas recognized the Australians as all human.

Cautiously, the faunas diplomat approached the small meeting area, as George Soren and his colleagues advanced to it as well.

Soren began. "Off the record, I'm going to assume you and your people have no idea what's going on either."

"You wouldn't be wrong." The faunas diplomat replied. Now that he was closer, Soren could point out the fact that this person was aged like himself, but also female. What interested him the most is that this woman possessed what appeared to be cats ears.

"Let's introduce ourselves." She suggested. "I'm Alcea Belladonna from Menagerie, and you are...?" She questioned.

"Geroge Soren of Australia." He quickly replied. Negotiations were a tricky and delicate matter. You had to play the game, and in this game, there was no room for cheating or error.

"I see. I know this is a loaded question Mr. Soren, but can you tell me what your countries views on racial equality are?" Belladonna questioned.

"Why such a straightforward question?" Soren sidestepped. While the answer was obvious, he had to be careful. If they were victims as his first thought was, then Australia's equal rights would be a boon in establishing friendly relations. If they were supremacists however…

"I'll explain later perhaps, for now though, I'm afraid I'll have to be blunt and ask you to answer the question."

"Racial tensions aren't really existent in Australia. We really don't care who you are as long as you help the community and don't start trouble. That's putting it in very basic terms, at least."

"I see. Menagerie wishes to keep the land it has in return for trade routes and peace." The cat faunus said. She knew that asking for too much on the first day of negotiations was a rookie mistake.

"Australia can likely accept these terms. I'll take these requests to our leader. In the mean time, Australia also wants trade routes, so we can get that out of the way now. We also would like to share history between nations. Australia would like to know more about Menagerie, and I'm sure you'd like to know about us in kind."

"What exactly are the specifics of 'sharing history'?" Alcea questioned.

"We'll likely start out by sending over crates of educational tools. Books, documentaries, technology to play said documentaries. When we trust each other more, we could send over some of our historians to guide you." George proposed.

"Hmmm. I see. Well, the first day of negotiations are known to be short, and I suppose it's about time for me to depart." Alcea reminded.

"I'm sure we can pass your requests. Well, it's about time for us to depart as well. The pleasure was all mine." Soren said as he extended his palm to shake Belladonna's hand. Alcea smiled and shook his hand in kind.

Shortly thereafter, the humans and faunus returned to their vehicles, excited from their first contact with each other. George Soren slammed the door to the backseat of his assigned G-wagon, smiling at his accomplishment of a successful first contact.

And then all hell broke loose.

 **BOOOOOM**

The lead G-wagon in front of Soren's exploded. The blast threw the transport a solid 20 feet into their air as if it was a child's toy before it landed roof-first, crushing everything inside. The horrendous creaking of metal being twisted and sheared in the explosion could be heard for miles around.

The blast was large enough to have rocked Soren's transport. Shrapnel was sent flying towards the windshield, only to be stopped by the bulletproof glass. The sheer concussion of the blast blinded Soren for a moment before his vision returned, blurry as it was.

When he looked up, the only thing Soren could hear was ringing in his ears, as well as the distant screams of men, and the sound of rifles. His heart sank when he realized what was happening. The three bullheads quickly departed, strangely enough, they weren't shooting back at the Australians.

But the Australians were certainly shooting back at them.

With no one else in the area, it only made sense that the faunus had blown up the G-wagon and everyone in it.

Two faunus armed with swords rushed back to their bullheads, but long before they could reach it, they were cut down by a hail of 5.56 rounds. The first one fell immediately, but the second one appeared to shrug off a couple of bullets before some sort of white energy enveloped him, and he fell as well.

When that the captain realized that the battle was over, he yelled into the comms for the drivers of the remaining G-wagon, as well as the M113, to "Get us the fuck outta here."

The two remaining vehicles of the Australian convoy quickly egressed to friendly lines.

As the captain looked back, he could see a pair of F-18's flying overhead, presumably chasing down the bullheads that had exploded their lead vehicle. Few people saw the fighter jets, fewer cared. Morale had gone from 100 to 0 in the course of three minutes.

"Hey...Why did they shoot at us in the first place? Wasn't it your damn job to make sure they didn't do that?" A young soldier sitting next to Soren asked, anger boiling in his voice.

"Hey, lay off. Negotiations went well, It isn't Mr. Soren's fault." The captain piped up, ordering his subordinate to close it.

"Then why'd they do it?" The private asked.

Soren looked out into the empty desert that encompassed what used to be the outback. "I don't know..." He replied, his voice was hollow with fear.

* * *

 **Whoops, guess the captain kinda jinxed it when he made that crack about world war three earlier. Tee hee hee.**

 **Anyways, I'm back from RTX (and from the dead), but before we discuss RTX, some of you may have noticed that I changed the title for chapters 2 and 3. The reason for that is because I was going to have an Atlas-Russia negotiation scene, but it didn't really pull together, ya know? So I just decided to gloss over it.**

 **Now on to RTX, oh boy was that fun. I got to meet Neath Oum, Adam Ellis, and MurderOfBirds. If Y'all don't know who Murder is, go check him out on youtube, he's a pretty...emotional...guy when it comes to RWBY.**

 **Anyways, I'm out. Seeya next chapter.**

 **-Writen**


	4. The Better Angels

**Chapter 4: The Better Angels**

 **Beta Read by: Trusty McGoodGuy**

 **Disclaimer: Slight Gore and lotsa swearing**

* * *

America. The technologically driven Titan of Earth. A nation that arguably had the strongest military of all Terran nations. America, despite its sheer might, had been surprisingly xenophobic and reclusive in the first day following The Combine.

Few Valean airships went near America, as they were focused on their closer neighbour, England. The ships that _did_ venture into American airspace were met with surprising, in some cases overkill, amounts of force.

A lone bullhead strayed too close to American Airspace? Send a squad of our top-of-the-line F-22's to shoo it away.

A fishing trawler or cargo transport somewhere it shouldn't belong? Get the nearest missile cruiser.

The Remnatians were quite alarmed at first, but when they had returned to international waters, they quickly dismissed it as paranoia from that countries government. The Americans maintained a strict perimeter to their Western and Eastern coasts, even going so far as to go to DEFCON 3 in the effort to create an impenetrable line on their coasts.

A shame then, that their real enemy wouldn't attack them from either coast. The first assault in the Siege of America...

...would come from within.

* * *

 **Two Days Post-Combine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania**

It was a fairly monotonous day for the city of steel.

Rain storms had swept in from the north, soaking the inhabitants of the industrial centre, and making it near impossible for its citizens to enjoy themselves outside that day. People worked in their day in, day out jobs.

Before they knew it, the workday had ended. Time to go home, as per usual. People loaded up onto buses, school and commercial. The ones that could afford it, started up their cars and headed out. Soon, the gridlock of rush hour consumed the streets. Cars honked, buses blared.

Tempers rose.

 **GGGGRRRRRRRRRAAAAWWWW**

From the city, you could hear it. A low growl. Guttural, primeval, but loud enough that it had to be far more than just one creature. It was quite distant and faint, however, so few in the city paid it attention to it. Those that did assumed it was something far enough away that it would have no effect on their lives.

Or so they thought.

Fog swept through Pittsburgh, like a blanket of grey mist. Stare into it, and you could see a pair of red eyes staring back. Soon the one pair was joined by another, then another, then another.

Screams pierced the dull, evening sky. Gunshots and the sounds of crashing cars quickly followed. Many got out of their own cars and attempted to peer into the mist, despite the fact that they could see no more than 20 feet in front of them. A few pulled out cameras and began recording.

On the corner, a homeless man had been standing, waving his "the end is near" sign for all to see. When he heard the gunshots, he took off running, screaming bloody murder about "the end being here" the whole way.

In a sick, twisted sense, he was right.

Where a doomsday preacher had ran away from the shots, a pair of officers sprinted towards them. Traffic was too thick to get their police cruiser through, so they ditched it and began running instead. More gunshots filled the air, more screams, a police officer cried for backup. The guttural growl had now turned into a raging war-cry.

Then...all fell silent.

Slowly, ever so slowly, bony black abominations crawled towards its bemused audience. The creatures were enormous, most easily towering over the average person. Slowly, the denizens of Pittsburgh backed away cautiously, hoping not to anger or startle these beasts.

But the creatures paid no mind of these attempts to escape. Instead, they charged the defenceless populous and began tearing into the unfortunate souls that were within range of claw, jaw and tusk.

And it was at that point that any semblance of peace and order fell apart. This would mark the beginning of what would later be known infamously as "The Pittsburgh Massacre."

* * *

Jim Caulier was nothing out of the ordinary. He was a tall brute of a man who had been working away in his local steel mill since he was old enough to legally work. Finding a job in a metal plant wasn't too hard a proposition in the city of steel.

He had been heading home when it first happened. The gunshots echoed from skyscraper to skyscraper, quickly reaching earshot of Caulier. He tensed at the sound for a second. Gunshots in the city was never a good thing, but it was far enough away that he assumed police would handle it. He kept walking to his nearby apartment.

Soon, Caulier was at the door to his apartment before he heard more and more rounds going off. They started as distant, occasional popping to a close-by, fully automatic cacophony of bullets. Shouts of terror could be heard, and they were anything but faint.

The large man stopped in his tracks and looked around. Was there a terrorist attack happening right here in Pittsburgh? Jim turned a nearby street corner and looked down the road to find that it was something far worse.

A hideous black creature resembling a giant deformed wolf was skulking down the street. Fresh blood spilled down from its cracked lips. It paused, then sniffed the air before spinning to face Caulier directly. It stared him down as if he were a prize just waiting to be taken.

He froze up for a brief moment. Fear filled his mind until there was almost nothing left.

After what seemed like an eternity, the...monster roared at the top of its lungs before running headlong, straight towards Caulier.

Wasting no time, he began to run out of pure survival instinct. He turned back down the street corner he had come from, only to spot a pair of mutated grizzly bears at the other end.

So, he did the only thing he could think of, he ran into his apartment building, and locked the door behind him. Despite being an American, Caulier owned no firearms. He knew no one else did since guns weren't allowed in his apartment complex.

 **CRUNK**

 **CRUNK**

The mutated wolf-creature was bashing its head against the large glass double doors to the apartment complex, and slowly starting to break the wood and metal frame. Jim was quickly running out time. The fearful American elected to run for the stairs.

Just as he did, the monster burst in, its jaws chomping at Caulier, lunging at the opportunity for its next meal. Jim sprinted up the staircase, as high as it would go before that thing caught up to him.

He made his way to the roof of the apartment complex, and squeezed through the undersized door. Not a moment too soon, for just as he did, the abomination rammed its frame through the door, but failed to get through, for it was simply too big to fit.

It lunged, snapped, and roared at the steelworker, but failed to bypass the concrete of the building. Jim breathed a small sigh of relief before turning to take in the situation around him.

Smoke rose from multiple parts of the city. The gunshots had been an overpowering symphony of noise a few minutes before was now a shadow of its former self, only being dull pops that were few and far in between. In the distance, half a dozen oily columns of smoke had risen to the edge of the sky.

Caulier put his hands to his forehead, his mouth hanging agape and his eyes wide as the full reality of the situation in Pittsburgh began to sink in. This was no minor event, this wasn't even a terrorist attack, it was far too big. It was in that moment that Jim Caulier realized he just survived a full-scale invasion of Grimm.

Or at least, he would have, had it not been for the nevermore that swooped in a moment later, ripping the unfortunate steelworker to crimson hued shreds.

Jim Caulier, along with nearly 60,000 other people, were casualties of the Pittsburgh Massacre, the first major Grimm incursion into a main American city. When they learned what was happening, military commanders all around the country scrambled their forces towards the desperate plight of Pittsburgh.

The SWAT of Pittsburgh was well trained and well prepared, but their fault was that there just wasn't enough of them. For every rifleman, there were twenty Beowolves. For every shield, ten Ursi. Despite the valiant efforts of police teams, sector after sector was overrun.

Surprisingly enough, a cluster of doomsday preppers managed to band together amidst the chaos. Armed with sandbags, armored vehicles, and questionably legal weapons, they formed an impromptu outpost at the edge of the city as a beacon to survivors.

And in turn, to Grimm as well.

When the remaining police teams heard of the outpost through radio, they decided it was time to retreat. The PPD, as well as the remaining civilian survivors that they had managed to round up, headed for what was simply known as "The Outpost," Grimm hot on their tail.

* * *

"Alright, Outpost should be just a few more blocks down." Sergeant Contreras commented.

"What's the plan when we get there, sir?" One of his officers asked.

Contreras looked over the group of scared survivors he had under his care until they reached the outpost. They were of all different backgrounds. Young, old, religious, non-religious, poor, slightly less poor.

He glanced for a second at the skeleton crew of police officers remaining to defend them. He only had six officers to defend roughly thirty people through an urban jungle teeming with predators.

Out of the six, only Contreras himself, vulgar as he was, and one other had any combat experience at all. Most of the PPD's best had been killed or went missing in the opening hour of...whatever the fuck this shitstorm was.

"Alright everybody, this is the deal. We're gonna get to the outpost. Anyone who needs it can get meds, food, and water. After that..."

.

.

.

"After that what?" One of the civilians asked.

"I don't fucking know. Hole up and hope the military shows up in time to save our asses, I guess."

Worried glances and murmurs spread throughout the church. The survivors had been lucky enough to find a building that was made primarily of concrete and steel to fortify them against the onslaught of the Grimm.

"These things are drawn to noise, so if we keep quiet and move through the back alleys, we can slip past them." Contreras planned out.

"What's the plan B if they spot us?" Marko, the only other officer there with combat experience, asked.

"Follow me, and run like hell." Contreras advised. Donning his helmet and readying his standard issue assault rifle, he began to walk to the back entrance of the church. The other quickly followed.

The group made its way from alley to alley, tension filled the air like gas. No one dared make a sound, they just hurried along and prayed that they could make it before those creatures found them.

Now only a few hundred feet from the Outpost, the group upped its pace, hoping to make it there before the abominations.

No such luck.

 **GGGGRRAAAWWWWW**

"RUN!" Contreras commanded.

Three police officers stayed behind to cover the civilian's escape, the other three stuck with the civilians themselves in case the Grimm tried to flank them. With quick feet and quicker minds, the civilians managed to make it to the frontline surrounding the Outpost. Contreras quickly followed.

Just as they made it through, Contreras sprinted for the line himself. Under a hail of gunfire and shrapnel, he ran as fast his legs could carry him. He looked back.

A creep was hot on his tail, gnawing at the heel of the sergeant's boot. One more lunge, and the abomination would have a grasp on him. Once more, the creature lunged towards the running officer.

 **THUNK**

Just before it could bite down on Contreras, a tank slammed into the side of the creep, crushing the Grimm. Contreras looked back to see a man with a bushy beard and a baseball cap pop his head out the top of the tank hatch, grinning from ear to ear.

"Talk about a Deus Ex, amiright?" The tank man said.

"Where in the god damn did you get a tank legally?" Contreras asked in disbelief,

"What? The Albatross? You're seriously asking if this thing's legal in the middle of the god damn apocalypse?"

"Touche." Contreras said as he headed in with the rest of his group.

This was just one case of many where survivors flocked to the outpost from all parts of the city. Thankfully, the citizens, as well as all of the officers managed to escape the harrowing parts of the occupied city.

In the days to come, the US military would arrive on station to retake the city of steel. The Valeans, experts on Grimm combat, would volunteer to assist the US in wiping out the Grimm incursion, which despite the US's previous xenophobia, they would quickly accept.

Vale would quickly re-mobilize its fighting force once more. This time to help out what could possibly be a very powerful ally for them to have.

The first huntsmen had come to America.

* * *

 **If you aren't a fan of long AN's, start scrolling.**

 **FAQ (And Review responses):**

 **Q: Why aren't you updating at a steady pace?**

 **A: Because this is a side story. It's just a little something to occupy me while I wait for RT to do something with Locus so I can get back to ASNL. Also, I may have sold my soul to Fallout: New Vegas, shut up.**

 **Q: Do you have a long-term plan for this story?**

 **A: Nope. I don't expect this story to go one for longer than 20 chapters, and once ASNL starts back up I fully expect this story to die and fade away into obscurity, and I'm totally OK with that.**

 **Q: What's with the unnecessary last part of the story involving Contreras?**

 **A: Honestly, the only reason I put that there was so I could hit the 2,000-word mark I set for myself for each chapter because I was short 150 words. Also, because ASNL cameo lololololol.**

 **Q: Why do you keep misspelling Faunus?**

 **A: Cuz I'm from the south, and I'm really fuckin stupid.**

 **Q: What about the brewing Austra-Menagerie war?**

 **A: I'm gonna get back to that in the next 2 or 3 chapters.**

 **Q: Can you send team RWBY to the Fort Worth Gun Show?**

 **A: Ok, first of all, this story takes place 20 years prior to canon RWBY so that it's more original and doesn't mess up canon events too badly. It's team STRQ, not RWBY. Second of all...I dunno, maybe I'll do that. I live like 30 miles from Fort Worth and I didn't even know it was the biggest gun show on Earth. Jeez.**

 **Q: Why did you name Blake's mom Alcea? I thought it was Kali?**

 **A: Again, this takes place 20 years pre-canon. (Pssst, it's Blake's grandma, not Blake's mom.)**

 **Q: Where are all the Kingdoms in comparison to the Terran nations?**

 **A: Good question. In the canon show Vale and Vacuo are connected by land, but I decided to change that in this story to spice it up. Vale is in the Atlantic Ocean between Britain and America, Atlas is between the Artic and Russia, Vacuo is in the Indian Ocean, and Mistral is in the Pacific, off the coast of Japan.**

 **Q: It usually says "Bet Read By: Trusty McGoodGuy" at the top but now it doesn't. Why?**

 **A: First off, I want to see how good I can do on a chapter without GoodGuy to hold my hand. This is a side story, so if I mess up on some parts, it's OK. Second of all, he is really REALLY busy with his university stuff, so even when I finish my chapters I have to wait somewhere between 3 days to a week before he gets back to me, depending on how many mistakes I made and how long the chapter is.**

 **Anyways, Reviews are very appreciated. Please review...yeah.**

 **-Writen**


	5. The Better Angels Part 2

**Chapter 5: The Better Angels Part 2**

Ever since the first incursion in Pittsburgh, it had been one outbreak after another. Not just America, but across all Terran nations. For the Valeans, it was a once in a lifetime event, and an opportunity to wipe out as many Grimm as possible while making a new ally.

For the Americans, it was a fiery crucible in a fight for survival that they weren't prepared for.

In an act of desperation, America paved the way for Valean huntsman to work alongside American forces in an effort to restabilize the country. If the Americans had one advantage, it was that they simply had too many large cities to invade all at once.

Cities such as San Diego, Phoenix, and Pittsburgh fell to the hordes within hours. Others like Fort Worth, Chicago, Atlanta managed to hold out against the initial onslaught. Their citizens armed and prepared. Some of them even since the Cold War. And strangely enough...Las Vegas, Boston, and Seattle were left untouched.

For team STRQ, this would be an adventure into new lands they had been so anxious about.

* * *

The bullhead flight was long and uneasy. The only you could hear was the muffled whine of the engines from inside the cabin, and the only thing you could see was the light pouring in through the canopy windscreen.

These "Americans" had their own fighter craft, alright. "Eagles" and "Falcons" Raven had heard from their latest information on them. But now, even they didn't even bother escorting their foreign guests. They were all too busy being deployed against the Grimm.

She knew all too well she had to be judicious with these new arrivals. Her tribe had prepared her since she was but a little girl to be able to take out Remnantian warriors, but these new people would certainly throw a wrench in her tribe's plans.

But that wasn't for her to worry about right now. Right now it was her duty to protect the team and complete the mission. As for what the mission was, they were being deployed to a place called "Salt Lake City" in a region known as "Utah."

Apparently, this city had once been the capital of the region, now nearly a ghost town, save for the remaining police and militia.

And the Grimm.

Team STRQ was being sent as reinforcements to an already ongoing battle near the downtown area of the city. The local militia had run into a Grimm offensive and was in need of backup, lest they be overwhelmed and eaten. It was up to Raven and her team to save the day.

Soon, sounds of flak and distant battle cries, both human and Grimm, could be heard. As the side doors to the bullhead slipped open, warm conditioned air escaped out, only to be replaced with chill windy air that whipped through the entire team's hair, waving it back and forth.

Streams of incendiary tracers hurtled to the sky the greet the circling nevermores. There were only two of them, but despite the locals best efforts, they simply weren't strong enough to bring them down on their own.

Without hesitation, the Branwen sister lept from the bullhead, screaming towards the ground at a speed most would consider suicidal. Adrenaline rose as the sound of rushing air screamed in her ear. Using the momentum built up in her dive, she simply sliced through the unprotected neck of one of the nevermores, severing it.

Still, even faster she dove. The second nevermore was too far off to her left for to actually get it. Her team would have to take care of that. Some of the men below looked up. Shock and awe adorning their faces at the sight of their newest savior.

Who was she? They wondered. Why had she come here? Where was she from?

It didn't matter. She was apparently on their side, and the battle was still raging, they would have to worry about that later.

As Raven landed, the deafening sounds of a cacophony of gunshots and explosives invaded her ears, as well as the cries for a medic. Used gunpowder and the smoke of dying Grimm flooded her nostrils. Tracers screeched past her directly into the charging horde. The bullets fell some, but they seemed to just keep coming. For just the hair's split of a second, she just sat there and took in the sights and sounds of the fight for survival.

Soon she was joined by the rest of team STRQ. Together, they landed just in front of the horde. Together, they sliced, slammed, cut, and punched their way through the black,

white, red onslaught.

Raven slashed through a pair of creeps that had been unfortunate enough to land in her path. Qrow hacked and cleaved through some beowulves like a farmer in a ryefield on harvest day. Tai mowed down some Ursi with his shotgun, while Summer cracked the skull of a boarbatusk against the pavement with her mace.

Together they began to turn the tide of the battle.

Now they had really gained the Militia's attention. Some of the impromptu soldiers even stopped firing to watch them fight. Others rose out from behind cover to join the third-year students in their charge against the beasts.

 **AAAAAAARRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE**

With no warning, a Basilisk barrelled through the other Grimm at great speeds before punching straight through the American's defensive line. As it did, two unfortunate fighters were caught in its path and swallowed whole. Basilisks were a class-4 worm-like creature that were the size of a bus and had a habit of lightning-quick charges before going underground.

Which was exactly what this one was trying to do now.

Before any of team STRQ could react, the Grimm was buried. Now it was a deadly game of subterranean cat and mouse. Qrow and Raven fell back on their training. Scaling some of the destroyed skyscrapers to get clear of the enormous worm. Now the odds were one against many as the Basilisk had foolishly wiped out the rest of its own Grimm during its reckless charge.

However, the rest of the civilian fighters stayed on the ground, unsure of what to do against the underground abomination.

As she looked back, a realization hit Summer like a hammer. The rest of them weren't getting to high ground because _they didn't know_ how to counter it. She called out to warn them at the top of her lungs.

"Hey! Get to some high ground before that thing comes back! Hurry!" She screamed.

Immediately, they clambered to gain height over the street. But it was too late.

 **AAAAARRRREEEEEEEE**

The Basilisk shot out of the ground like a rocket, taking the life of another unfortunate fighter with it. In flash, Raven had dashed through the outer flesh of the worm, injuring it but certainly not putting it out of action. Just as she did, Americans opened up on it.

Rifle, submachine gun, and pistol round did little to harm the creature as most of the bullets simply bounced off or didn't penetrate enough to cause any real damage.

It turned on her, using its massive black tail to slam the Branwen sister into a light pole, bending her spine backward. Back into the ground, it went.

"Raven!" Tai called out from atop a pile of concrete rubble. Anxiety and worry filled his entire body as he ran towards his incapacitated comrade. As he neared the smoke and dust created by the fall, he could hear the annoyed grumble of a very much still alive Raven beginning to rise from the ashes. In an instant, his worry was replaced with relief.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Of course I am. Now let's get back to the others. We have to take out that Basilisk or else we're finished."

Meanwhile, The soldiers had fanned out into the few buildings left that hadn't been destroyed. Whereas they had been on the street defending their home a minute ago, now they occupied windows and balconies across the street.

"What're we gonna do Summer?" Qrow wondered.

Summer looked around all across the street, from the destroyed restaurants and beauty shops to the militia hiding in the old rundown warehouses, to a bag lying in the middle of the street. One of the militiamen had been carrying it with them when the Basilisk had taken them. The bag had a bright triangular symbol adorned on its side.

A symbol that Summer recognized all too well.

' _Caution: High Explosive'_

She turned to Qrow. "I have a plan! Just cover me if it pops out again!" She commanded.

Summer lept from the building to go for the pack. Much to her expectation, again the thing sprouted out of the ground. Again the police and civilians pumped it full of lead. Again the Basilisk rushed towards Summer. The monster's jaws open wide as it loomed over the white-cloaked huntress.

Summer nabbed the bag, but it was too late, the monster was already right on top of her. There was no way for her to get out in time. She looked up only to see the hideous inside of the creature's mouth. It had prepared to dive straight into the ground and take Summer with it. In that moment, she could see the shock on Raven's face. She could hear Tai screaming at her to move.

She could even see Qrow mid-dash in a futile effort to save her teammate.

She closed her eyes and accepted her fate. Would the team be able to complete the mission without her? Even if they did, would they be able to keep moving forward without her? In her final moments, Summer prayed that they would.

 **BAM**

It was the loudest sound Summer had ever heard.

She looked up just in time to see a white-hot fireball pass over her head. It slammed directly through the Basilisk faster than Summer could blink. Grimm smoke flew everywhere like entrails as the mysterious object sliced through and shattered the entire anatomy of the monster.

 **AAAARRREEEeeeeee**

And thus, the Basilisk slumped over, dead. It was only a moment before it vaporized into an oily black gas before disappearing off the face of the planet forever. The blast of hot air that followed nearly knocked the cloaked huntress off of her feet.

What in the Gods was that?

Swiveling her head, she caught sight of a smoking barrel the size of a telephone pole. And attached to it, a beige behemoth made out of metal. "Southstar" was muraled onto the side of its hull. It was an intimidating sight to look at, even if she had no idea what it was.

Soon, more of these machines ventured out from behind the rubble and smoke of the battle. The hatch opened from the first colossal machine opened, and out popped the head of a soldier.

"Whoa…." Summer exclaimed. In awe of the machine.

"Hey! You guys are part of team STRQ, right? That foreign spec ops squad?" The soldier called out.

"Uhhh….well yeah! I guess that's us!" Tai called back.

"I'm Captain Auburn of the 881st Tank Battalion! We got rerouted from Kaysville when we heard you guys needed help!"

The rose huntress pondered on this for a second. So that's what those things were called. Tanks. No one on Remnant had anything quite like it. If they weren't in the middle of a war zone, Summer might have stopped to admire it.

All well. She'd just have to do that later. For now, it was time to link up with their newest friend.

"Thanks for the help! Can you help us clear out the rest of the area?"

"Understood!" The captain called out.

And so began the battle to retake Salt Lake City.

* * *

The sky was a sickly blackish purple. Dull. Hopeless. Mauve hued crystals dotted the terrain growing out of the ground like hellish mushrooms. Black frothy soil oozed across the land like molten tar. The only sign of civilization in this wasteland was a massive castle that stood like a spire for as far as one could see.

Within the castle, one could find a very intrigued, very observant woman watching the events of the invasion of America unfold. Although…"woman" may not have been the right word. This being was something far more sinister than just that.

A small black squid-like Grimm no bigger than a basketball floated just in front of her, giving the being a birds-eye view of not just one area, but several all at once. A light smile creaked across her face as she watched the carnage unfold.

In some cities, her forces were pushed back by the spirit and resilience of those wretched humans. In others, her wonderful creatures of darkness had run through their defenses like a tidal wave.

But she was smart enough to know the beginnings of a losing campaign when she saw one. The humans were starting to organize once more, and when they did, her job would become much more difficult.

"Seer? Tell our Grimm to pull out. I've seen enough." She spoke to the floating orb-like creature.

As if on cue, Grimm everywhere began to retreat out of the entire country all at once. This of course, prompted the humans to give chase. It didn't matter. Her creatures could disappear into the forests if she wanted them. The humans who were foolish enough to venture out too far would be turned on and devoured easily.

While it was an interesting development, even she had no idea where these entirely new continents had materialized from. How strange. Perhaps she would send some of her possessed geists to act as spies. Perhaps she could find an answer with enough information.

For now, though, her job was done. It was time to watch from the shadows and see what develops.

"Make no mistake, Ozpin. Even with these new humans. Nothing will stop me." She murmured to herself.

One way or another, she _would_ have her justice.

* * *

 **Oh wow, this story got revived after a whole 6 months of it being dead. Why?**

 **Because ASNL is dead and I got bored.**

 **Honestly, I didn't really like how this chapter turned out, but hopefully, we'll get into something more interesting in the next few chapters**


	6. Cards Down, Bets Off

**Chapter 6: Cards Down, Bets Off**

It had been two months since that fateful day.

Grimm had invaded like a tsunami, before strangely receding. A few nations had fallen to the Grimm, but for most, the people of what was formerly Earth had been able to withstand the onslaught.

Despite all that time, most of the nations and kingdoms hadn't really chosen to interact with one another. Choosing instead to focus on their own citizens and dealing with the Grimm in their own borders. Of course, there were a few exceptions like Vale and America, but these temporary alliances were few and far.

But today, that was going to change. Today the representatives of almost all nations and kingdoms across the entire world were to be gathered in one place. The only completely neutral island kingdom on the planet.

Vytal.

The tensions were running just as high as the security measures. If some off-shoot terrorist group wanted to take out a whole parcel of world leaders, this was their one chance to pull it off. Too many ambassadors and representatives were attending, there was no way to keep this meeting secret.

Now they were, just minutes away from the start of the first contact meeting. Whatever happened today would likely change the course of history.

Forever.

* * *

This was it. She'd been preparing for this next hour for the last few weeks. It all built up to this. Time to make it happen. It was dangerously likely that her team, as well as herself, would only have one chance. Hopefully no one screwed up.

"Madam President. They're ready for you." A blacksuit-clad agent reported to her.

Wordlessly, she strutted down to her respective council seat, a tiny flag of America engraved in brass on a small wooden placard just on the table just in front of her. A quick glance at her would only reveal her stone-cold pokerface. On the inside, however, it was safe to say she was at least a _bit_ nervous.

Before she even knew it, the rest of the rotunda was filled as well. The room was colossal in size, easily fitting all council members of both Earth and Remnant combined. There were almost as many council members for these new lands as there were for Earth.

Strange, the President noted, considering the fact that her spies had reported there were only 4 nations...er, "Kingdoms", as they were known. Which also brought up the strange point that there were no kings to be seen anywhere either.

The cameras were rolling, the whole world was watching, and the meeting was about to start. She needed to focus.

"The council of Vale would like to thank all those in attendance for accepting to meet here. We assume that all delegates know that we are gathered here today as a sort of 'first step' for all of us?"

The room was silent for a moment, no one disagreed with the Valean councilman.

"Very well then. Over the course of the last couple of months I think it's safe to say that quite a few problems have arisen for all of us."

Now a Swiss councilwoman spoke up. "Hmmm yes. Most notably the 'incident' between Menagerie and Australia."

From her seat, the president could see the tension between seething up between the two representatives of the two aforementioned regions. What were their names? Ah yes. George and Alcea.

"We're….still looking into it." Alcea reported through gritted teeth.

An awkward pretense of a silence filled the room. No one was quite sure what to say or do for a second. No one except the President. This was her window of opportunity. Time to act.

"With all due respect, ladies and gentlemen, I think it's about time to change the subject. We came here to share and discuss new information, not reheat old conflicts. We will deal with it in time, but for now I believe we should focus on more positive aspects of our respective regions."

"Agreed." Many delegates reverberated in unison. They knew this was not the right time to deal with international incidents.

"Now, while we have already learned much from each other via the information trade, there is one subject that I am inclined to bring up with all of you. Specifically the 4 kingdoms and Menagerie." The president announced.

While the Kingdom members look around, skeptical and suspicious of this sort of language, they continued to listen. The terran nations on the other hand, sighed as if they knew what was to happen next, but knew they couldn't stop it.

A projector screen unrolled from the top of the room, followed by an actual projector, loaded with only a singular playing disk.

"I think it's time to reveal the Terran nations greatest weapon. And the reason why I'm sure none of you will be invading our countries any time soon." She said as she pressed play.

Slowly but surely, they footage faded from black to a serene brown desert landscape. Mountains dotted the horizon as a flurry of gentle breezes kicked up loose sand and carried it away. Though the film was aged and grainy, it looked like something you'd see on a postcard.

"This is a desert in a region within America known as Nevada. The area you're seeing is roughly a quarter of the size of Vacuo's capital city."

With no warning, a blinding white flash filled the screen, enveloping the whole room. Most of the terran national representatives had seen this footage time and time again, and had come to dread it's presence. The Kingdoms on the other hand, were caught completely off guard.

The flash began to die down, and one could make out the outlines of a massive mushroom cloud with a fireball curling inside of it. Eventually, the cloud finally died down, leaving the once serene desert void of any trace of what was once alive there.

An uneasy silence filled the air. People forgot all about the brewing hate between Australia and Menagerie. Finally, an Atlesian representative, a general, spoke up.

"What...is that?" He asked.

"That…." The female leader of the America began. "Is a nuclear weapon. It's the reason why the world has almost ended on multiple occasions, and ironically it's the reason why the world has been somewhat more peaceful in the past few decades."

"How many of these weapons do you have? Ten? Fifty? A hundred?"

"As far as the civilian population is concerned, we have 15,000 of these spread across eight countries. In reality we have a little over 45,000. America and Russia alone possess almost 80% of these weapons." Madam President foretold. Instantly, the faces of every kingdom's representatives went white with fear.

They knew that if even one of these 8 countries so wished, they could end the world. Remnant and her people, their accomplishments, their history, even their future. It could all be vaporized in a matter of just a few hours.

"Don't worry, everyone. We've had these weapons for nearly a century and haven't used them since then. In the meantime, let's shift our focus towards something….less destructive. From what we've heard, your civilization's dust has some...drawbacks."

The screen shifted over to a video, a red bolded text on the bottom right blinked. "Live" it said. This was not a recording, but actually happening at that very instant. In the video, a strange twisting multi-colored metal structure could be seen in the distance.

" **Uhhh G-See this is Caenavron. We are go for takeoff."**

" **Understood Caenavron. Prep for takeoff in T-minus 10."**

" **Final check on Avionics complete."**

" **9"**

" **Fuel connectors have been cut."**

" **8"**

A thick white gas bellowed out from the bottom of this structure. Like a smoke machine one could see at a rock concert, times a thousand.

" **7"**

" **External tank connectors are stable."**

" **6"**

" **Life support systems are green across the board."**

" **5"**

" **Burners lit."**

Suddenly the white cloudy gas erupted in focused blast of pure fire. Like the blast from a dragon of legends old.

" **4"**

" **3"**

" **All ground based connectors have been cut."**

" **2"**

" **All thrusters full power."**

" **1"**

The towers next to the white-colored behemoth fell to the ground as the strange machine flew directly up. It was like seeing a whale take flight. It shot up like a cannon round, leaving a massive plume of smoke and steam in its wake to mark its departure.

It went on and on and on, until it was barely but a glowing orange speck in the sky. In the meeting room, there was no sound. No one spoke. No one even whispered. They all just sat and stared at something many of them had never quite seen before.

" **External tanks detached. Caenavron to G-See, we have achieved orbit."**

Madam President turned to the rest of the delegates who had gathered. "This is what our civilization is capable of. I'm sharing this with you because I'm certain that once we open free immigration policies between our respective territories, people will learn of this anyways."

Kingdom council members murmured to themselves over these most recent revelations. This was certainly a shock to be taken in.

"We will discuss this at a later precedent. For now, I believe that it is fair that we share some of our own history." Vacuo suggested.

"Hmm yes. How can we learn to work with one another if we do not know one another?" Mistral pointed out.

"That is why we took the time to put together some of our most well made documentaries. They should be excellent in explaining our culture." Atlas suggested.

Instantly, an aid replaced the Terran projector with an Atlas made one containing a documentary disc. On the screen a red background popped up, covered in white text.

 _World Of Remnant_

 _Play?_

* * *

The cabin of the space shuttle shook with such an intense might as it slipped the surly bonds of the Earth.

Oxygen equipment and electrically powered light quickly came online as the rumbling stopped. The crew and it's vehicle were now in orbit.

"External tanks detached. Caenavron to G-See, we have achieved orbit." The commander of the shuttle spoke into the microphone. Immediately he could hear claps and cheers from Ground Control at the successful mission.

Honestly, this was the most quickly put together mission the commander had ever been on. They had little time to prepare as the old shuttles from the early 2000's had to be reactivated to accommodate for his nation's needs.

But what the hell, they managed to pull it off anyways.

"Ah whoops. We need to go back. I think I left the stove on." The person next to the commander said jokingly. Earning her a few laughs and chuckles from the rest of the crew.

But there was little time for celebration. They were astronauts. America's elite in both physical and mental capabilities and skill. They had a job to do. The commander quickly shifted channels to pick up the frequency from the International Space Station.

"I.S.S. this is Caenavron of the United States. Requesting permission to dock."

"Kzzzzzzzzzzt"

Damn. Nothing. Maybe he was on the wrong frequency by accident? The commander checked the radio again. The state-of-the-art machinery appeared to be picking up the exact coordinates that had been assigned to it.

"I.S.S I repeat, this is Caenavron of the United States. Requesting permission to dock."

"Kzzzzzzzzt" Hmm? Still nothing? Something wasn't right. They had been receiving OK signals from the ISS for months, so why weren't they responding?

The commander decided to get his head away from the electronics and onto a swivel. He needed to get his head outside the cockpit to see what the hell was going on. As he peered out the shuttle window, and what he saw horrified him.

The ISS was...destroyed. Pieces of space debris sprayed everywhere from it's wreckage. From the starboard side of the shuttle, a piece of white hued debris bumped into the space vehicle.

One glance at it made the commander wish he hadn't looked. It was not debris, but rather, a Russian cosmonaut adrift in space.

A dead one.

"Jesus. What the hell happened here?"

Like a rising storm, black gas began emanating from the station that had once been the shining beacon of space programs across the world. It approached the shuttle, slowly at first, then it began to pick up speed.

"What is…" The commander asked. As he looked into the gas, he put two and two together.

"Pilot! Get us out of here, now!"

But it was too late. The thick fog enveloped the spacecraft before anyone on it could react. In just a few seconds, the entire shuttle was covered. There was no hope, there were no screams, no struggles, no final words or thoughts.

Just like that, Space Shuttle Caenavron disappeared, and was never seen again.

* * *

 **AN**

 **Heeyyyy Im part of a RWBy discord now. Go check out YangAF on tumblr for more info and whatnot.**

 **Anyways I'm really really really tired and I'm gonna go now. Enjoy chapter.**


	7. Memoirs of a Medic

**Chapter 7: Memoirs of a Medic**

* * *

 **Journal Entry 001**

 _This is combat medical officer Cinna Barr of the Independent Menagerie Army. This is the beginning of my little journal. I thought doing one of these would be a good idea since…. Well…. That thing happened. Also because being a soldier means waiting around twiddling your thumbs for hours on end, so I guess I also need some sort of past time as well._

 _Some of the people are giving it the nickname "Combine." You know, because our world combined with theirs. I think it sounds stupid, but if it catches on then whatever. I don't really know what else to say. Going to sign off here._

 **Journal Entry 002**

 _A lot of people are pretty riled up today. Some forward scouts radioed back recently and it looks like these new lands are filled with humans and only humans. Guess we aren't just an independent island kingdom anymore. Ugh. That's gonna be a mess._

 _Also, Alcea spoke out in the city square today. She said something about how we as an independent kingdom should be wary of these new arrivals, but at the same time, we shouldn't immediately try to completely and utterly antagonize them._

 _I guess that's some pretty good advice. Not like everybody's going to listen to her, though._

 _A lot of people are gearing up for an all-out war. Handing out weapons, setting up walls, mobilizing what combat vehicles we have. Honestly, who can blame them? The last time we had a nation this close to our borders, it was Atlas and well…. That didn't go so well, to say the least._

 _Mostly it's a lot of the younger generation that's got their gears in a twist. They're young and bold and brash and honestly somewhat stupid. But they're also patriotic and willing to fight._

 _I would know. I was just like them when Atlas invaded._

 _It's been causing a bit of a rift between them and the older people, however._

 _A lot of the older generation fought during the Atlas insurgency, they know what it's like to fight. They know the risk of losing people, and they don't want to have to make enemies where they don't have to._

 _We'll survive, though. No matter what happens. We always have._

 **Journal Entry 003**

 _People from the new lands surrounding Menagerie radioed in this morning. They're going to send some ambassador to negotiate with us and are asking us if they want to meet and where._

 _A lot of people want to make a lot of different calls on that._

 _Some people want to send out our own team of diplomats to negotiate with them. Others don't want to meet with them at all. A few of the more aggressive ones even want to use this as an opportunity for a pre-emptive strike._

 _Honestly? Meeting them face to face might be for the best. We're supposed to at least try and make friends with them, so as much as most of the faunus would hate to take that kind of risk, it might end up being for the best in the long term._

 _Of course, my squad has their own different opinions on that, but that's their right. Luciole's a bit too trusting for my taste, Onyx wants to use this as an opportunity to strike first, Lieutenant Ramie is…..well...she's pokerfaced. No telling what her opinion is on the matter._

 _Doesn't really matter either way. At the end of the day, Alcea and the council make the final call, no one else._

 _Here's hoping they make the right one._

 _Damn it. Have to go. Looks like Luciole tripped on the barbed wire while setting it up. She didn't activate her aura, either. I'm gonna be cleaning her cuts all night, aren't I?_

 **Journal Entry 004**

 _Looks like I got a date with destiny._

 _Commanders were coming around today, picking up recruits for a mission. Apparently, they're gathering some of the best of the best to act as a bodyguard team._

 _A bodyguard team for who? You may ask._

 _Well, that's the big kicker. Apparently, Alcea herself is going to hop on a bullhead and go down to some place in no man's desert to go negotiate with these humans. They won't tell us where, though. Not sure how that's going to turn out, but hopefully it all goes over smoothly._

 _They picked Luciole to go. She can be a bit introverted and awkward but she knows how to keep her cool and she's a damn good fighter. I'd know myself, I've sparred with the little speed demon a few times. Maybe it's her jackal faunus traits._

 _They didn't pick Onyx or Ramie to go, though. With Onyx it's pretty obvious why, but it kind of baffles me why they didn't pick Ramie, I mean it's not like I'm trying to pick favorites, but Ramie's an even better fighter than Luciole. Weird. Maybe command knows something I don't._

 _Oh, and I'm going too. Command wants my medical skills because if someone gets hurt, I'm apparently one of the best combat medics in Menagerie. Hah. Who knew?_

 _I better start packing up my medical equipment. We leave in an hour._

 _I think this is going to go well._

 **Journal Entry….Ugh.**

 _The whole situation went out of the frying pan and into the shit._

 _It was going so well at first. Luciole was super optimistic on the ride over. I mean we get there, we all get to our positions as planned. The foreigners are there too. Foreign soldiers armed with rifles. They're there waiting for us with two cars and some weird looking armored vehicle._

 _That damn armored vehicle with the big gun on top of it._

 _Alcea and that asshole... They start talking. I couldn't really hear what they were saying. I was stationed in the bullhead in case things went south because that was the plan, and me being a snake faunus doesn't exactly translate into me having super-hearing._

 _So negotiations end and we all get back to our vehicles. At this point, a few of us are eager to get out of there because the tension was running high._

 _And then one of the foreign cars exploded and killed everyone in it. The thing went flying and landed on its roof. Just like that. For just a split second, we all just kinda looked around at each other, wondering if one of us did that._

 _And then they started shooting us._

 _Alcea's Rangers, her most trusted personal guards, the ones who were standing next to her at all times. They evacuated her to our most heavily armored bullhead and took off. The ones who were still caught on the ground stayed behind for a small bit to cover them._

 _Two of our people got taken out. They were too far away to recover, so we had to leave them. Not like it would have made a difference, they both died right then and there anyway._

 _I fired a couple of potshots at their soldiers with my rifle. I wasn't really aiming, I was just trying to get them to take cover so they'd stop shooting at us for a second. To get them to stop shooting at Luciole mostly._

 _We were almost all on the bullheads. The first two jets already left. Our pilot had the engines hot, and we were about ready to egress the hell out of there. Luciole was the very last to get on the transport. She was too damn brave for her own good._

 _She covered every other faunus while they retreated while shooting back at the foreigners. After what seemed like a gods damned eternity she finally started to run for our transport._

 _And I'll never forget this. I distinctly heard the foreign commander say "get on the bloody 50 cal!" to one of his soldiers. Immediately after I see a soldier get on the big gun on top of the armored vehicle they had._

 _I saw him aiming at Luciole. I tried shooting at him, but my bullets just got deflected by the armor. He started shooting and Luciole caught got caught in the fire and…._

 _Damn it all._

 _Thank the gods that her aura took most of the bullets, but a couple of them managed to pierce her aura. We managed to get her back to the bullhead and get out of there but...she was bleeding. Bleeding bad. I did everything I could for her._

 _And I remember her looking up at me while I was working on her. I remember that she looked down at her wounds and started screaming, she tried to say something to me but she was in so much shock that she couldn't form a coherent sentence._

 _We had some of their enemy fighter planes chase after us. They fired some missiles, but we popped flares and chaff so that missiles couldn't lock. For some reason or another, they didn't chase us after that._

 _About 2 minutes into the ride back home, Luci passed out and hasn't woken up since. She's still alive in the infirmary though. Doctors are working around the clock to keep her alive, but things don't look too good._

 _It's almost midnight. I've been writing too long. I need to go to bed._

 **Journal Entry 006**

 _Luciole died this morning._

 _We tried everything we could think of, but one of the bullets ruptured her half her lower organs. Luciole managed to wake up before she passed. Her family was there. Her sister and nephew among them. I could see her talking to her sister with her final breaths. I have no idea what she said to her, but whatever it was caused her sister to burst into tears._

 _At 0846 Menagerie time, Luciole Takata was pronounced dead._

 _I feel sick. I'm going to stop writing for now._

 **Journal Entry 007**

 _It's been 48 hours since the whole situation went into the trash can._

 _A lot of people in the council are already calling for a declaration of war. I even saw most of Luciole's family calling out for revenge in anger. Alcea seems somewhat reserved, though. She pointed out that as far as the foreigners were concerned, we struck first. She doesn't want to declare war immediately._

 _Her popularity in Menagerie as a whole has gone down because of that, and it shows. She has managed to get few other council members on her side, despite that. So until the war ready side can get two more votes, Menagerie can't officially declare war._

 _In the meantime, we've cut off all communication with these new lands._

 _Onyx was livid when the news first broke. He was about ready to trek across the desert by himself and kill as many foreigners as possible. He's never really trusted humans, and after what they did to him when he was just a kid, who can blame him?_

 _Ramie was still wearing that damn poker face as always. I never know what she's thinking half the time, anyways._

 _The Menagerie military has also begun to conduct an investigation into everyone who was at the diplomatic meeting. They think one of us blew up that car and caused that interkingdom incident, and honestly, they're probably right._

 _Who knows what they're going to do to the idiot that started this whole thing. Life in prison? Whatever. Inspectors will be here to interrogate me in an hour or so._

 **Journal Entry 008**

 _The interrogation went as well as it could have, I suppose. They went through everything I owned, including this journal. They didn't find any dirt on me, though, so they just apologized and left._

 _Meanwhile, Alcea is planning to be at a very important summit that's happening next month. Apparently, every kingdom and "nation" is getting together in Vytal to find out what the hell is going on._

 _Not like it will matter though, I don't think Menagerie or this "Australia" will ever fully trust each other again. Oh yes, apparently their kingdom is actually a nation called Australia. Honestly, there's nothing that some old combat medic like me can do about this anymore._

 _I'll just have to let the chips fall where they may._

 _Combat Medical Officer Cinna Barr. Signing off._

 **End Journal Logs.**

* * *

Back to the castle. Yes yes. Back to my Queen. My dear Queen. She will be so proud of me once she hears of my accomplishments in her name.

The doors. The big wooden doors. She will be waiting for me on the other side. She always has. I have to pull myself together. Now is not the time to look like some common fool! Now is the time to look prim and proper!

I went through the doors before I even knew it. There she was, as always.

"Hmmm, Tyrian. Your smile seems wider than usual. Do you have something you wish to tell me?" The queen asked.

"Yes, mistress. I successfully planted the explosives on that car, just as you asked! The humans and faunus no longer trust each other..." I nearly burst into laughter just reminding myself of the wonderful news.

"Well done. Ensuing deception and spite where we can is one of our hallmarks, and one of the keys to our eventual success. You are dismissed, Tyrian."

She didn't give me a reward, she never did, she never would. She didn't have to. After all….

Working diligently for the Queen would be its own reward….

* * *

 **AN**

 **Yup. I had an idea with this chapter and I decided to go through with it. It actually ended up turning out a lot better than I thought it would, but how well it ACTUALLY turned out is up to you guys.**

 **In any case, I haven't had an official plan for the future of this story, but with all the things on my plate in terms of the plot already, I don't think I'm going to need one just yet.**

 **Hope you all enjoyed the chapter.**


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